Filed under: Country Music, Flashback Series | Tags: 1990, Flashback Series, Garth Brooks, The Dance
In 1989 Garth Brooks came on the scene with his self-titled debut album. It spawned four hits but none of them matched the power of “The Dance”, which was released as a single in 1990. The song eventually went on to be a number one hit on the US Country Charts and an anthem to those who have loved and lost, and to people who have passed.
I have always related this song to my parents relationship. In 2005, my Dad passed unexpectedly at 52, which left my Mom to raise two teenagers by herself. So whenever I hear this song I always have to stop in my tracks as I can’t help but think of my parents and the father I lost. While this is song is almost painfully mournfu, it also sends the great message that no matter how much it hurts now to have lost that person, you are still better off for having loved them and to have ’danced’ which I think is the best comparison to life.
The video for the song is below, which IMHO is one of the most powerful music videos ever made.
If you have a story or just opinions about the song please feel free to post a comment below.
Filed under: Country Music | Tags: Grammy, LeAnn Rimes, What I Cannot Change
LeAnn Rimes, with her friend Darrell Brown have made their emotional, Grammy nominated, ballad, that they wrote together; “What I Cannot Change”, into a inspirational book of the same title. The book will consist of 128 pages of text and photos and is set to be released on April 14. A CD of the track will also be included with the book, which was published by HarperStudio.
Not only has Rimes wrote an inspirational book based off the song, but she along with her husband Dean, have created a webpage at her official site called What I Cannot Change. The purpose: To give people a place where they can just get anything they want to say off their chest while being completely anymous. I know some of you may be thinking that all you have to do to get anything off your chest nowadays is just make your own blog, which is true. But IMHO, this way people can look at other people’s problems and possibly give advice to one another. So cheers to LeAnn and the people responsible for what I”m sure will be an amazing book, an already magnificant song, and a great website idea. :D
Filed under: Uncategorized
Carrie Underwood hits 2009 with the cover of the 1988 Randy Travis number 1 hit “I Told You So”.
I’ll be one of thee first to admit that I was not a real fan of Ms. Underwood’s 
till this past year. I knew she had won American Idol in 2005, but I had no clue what she sounded like since I had stopped watching the show since Fantasia won it. When hearing about her I pegged her as a Kelly Clarkson poser, but then her singles like “Wasted” and “Before He Cheats” came out, and while still didn’t really like her I thought she had some good songs. Slowly I began to dislike her after such overplayed singles like “All American Girl” and “Last Name”. It wasn’t until “Just A Dream” came out that I finally realized she was the real deal.
That’s my Carrie Underwood story, what’s yours? Haha. (In case you didn’t catch that was a pun on those over-the-top Grand Casino stories that play on my tv, and yes, I know it wasn’t funny.)
Now comes her fifth single of her 2007 album Carnival Ride. ”I Told You So” was and still is a Randy Travis gem, but let’s face it, sometimes we need covers of past gems. Just think if Whitney Houston hadn’t ever sung a cover of Dolly’s “I Will Always Love You” in 1993? Don’t get me wrong not all songs should be covered; Did anyone hear about the Jonas Brothers singing Shania’s “I’m Gonna Getcha Good”?! Leave it to the pros boys!
So is Carrie good enough to cover “I Told You So”?
Duh! This is Carrie were talking about here. Not only did she just get herself a hit, she made herself a cover that is just as good as the original. The vocals are great; Carrie doesn’t let it rip as if she is Martina but instead takes a note for Ms. Yearwood and sings the song with ease and grace, making it one of her best vocal performances to date. The production and musical arrangements are also good; Yes it is definatly country-pop, but at it’s best.
So props to Carrie and her crew, this single just proves that Carrie has tons of potential and is already becoming a legend of country music.
A
Filed under: Electropop, Pop Music, Single Reviews | Tags: All I Ever Wanted, Electropop, Kelly Clarkson, My Life Would Suck Without You
In 2007 Kelly Clarkson made her most artistic album to date with My December, but as with many artistic albums it didn’t do as well as her mainstream 2004 hit album Breakaway. Now,Clarkson is ready to hit the mainstream once again in 2009 with a new album All I Ever Wanted to hit shelves on March 10th and the new single “My Life Would Suck Without You”, just released.
The new single starts off with a much more electronic-pop sound than anything Kelly has recorded before, and who can really blame the girl; Afterall it’s 2009 and electropop is now the leading musical genre in the mainstream.
So what’s the song basically about? In a nutshell, Kelly finds her old flame standing at her door, he tells her that he wants her back, and she takes him back, stating “I know that I’ve got issues, But you’re pretty messed up too, Either way I found out I’m nothing without you..”, along the way. Basically, this is the exact opposite of what “Since U Been Gone” or “Miss Independent” were all about. But while the lyrics may be lacking a bit, the production, musical arrangements, and vocals are top notch.
Just with this single you can probably guess Clarkson is going to have to go back to playing dress up a bit, like Breakaway, and not show us as much of the real her as we saw in My December, but with power pop as catchy as this it won’t be hard to find yourself jamming along with the tune.
B+
Filed under: Country Music, Suggest A Hit | Tags: 2002, CMA's, Cry, Faith Hill, Suggest A Hit, When The Lights Go Down
Suggest A Hit, will be an new ongoing series on the site. Everyone’s had a song that they wish would’ve gone to radio or could’ve been a bigger hit. So, here’s your chance to share a song that wasn’t as big of a hit as you would’ve liked or a song that hasn’t been released yet and you would think it would be.
My suggestion for this round will be Faith Hill’s “When The Lights Go Down” off of her 2002 album Cry. The song only peaked at Number 26 on the US Country charts and it was one of her best songs off of the album and should’ve been one of her singature ballads. Below is Faith’s famous performance at the 2002 CMA’s:
So, what do you think would’ve or could make a hit single?
Just incase anyone didn’t notice my last post was in mid-December. The reason for this was that both of our computers at home crashed and we have just gotten one of them back from the computer repair. So I am sorry for the inconvience if anyone was angry by the lack of updates. But I’ll let you guys know I expect to be back and better than ever in the coming weeks. So stay tuned for more posts and since I didn’t get a chance before; I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that you all are having a Happy New Year! ;)
Stay tuned :D
